MapleStory Online
by hello2000
Summary: What if it wasn't the floating castle of Anicrad that Kayaba Akihiko envisioned, but the floating world of MapleStory? A series of one-shots. Not in any order. I do not own Sword Art Online or MapleStory.
1. Super Fight

"Hng."

Jumping backwards, the mage raised his staff and blocked the kick sent towards him, creating a shower of sparks. Attempting to counter attack, he stabbed his staff forward, only to meet the dagger of the white cladded attacker. Pushing his offense forward, the dagger user spun the daggers in his hands and spun around, sending two slashes and a kick in succession. However, the mage managed to defend himself, blocking the attacks with his staff and sending out a palm thrust in return and sent the Dual Blade flying back.

Taking advantage of the brief reprieve, the Battle Mage assumed a stance and started charging up energy within his staff, making a circle of light appear around him. When the staff started glowing a dark purple, he swung the staff forward and quickly summoned two dark orbs between the Dual Blade, activating the skill «Dark Shock» . Creating an extremely powerful magnetic field between them, a purple lightning bolt appeared between the two orbs which would had struck the blade user had he not dived to the side, allowing him to avoid the magnetic blast.

Performing a «Flash Jump» towards the mage, the two fighters engaged in close combat again, this time their attacks matching blow by blow. As the sounds of weapons clashing against each other rang through the room, the two did not let up on their blows.

Tilting his head to one side, the Battle Mage managed to dodge the fist sent towards his face, only to realise too late that it was a feint as the other fist came up and landed on his face. The punch sent the mage stumbling backwards, leaving him disorientated. While the mage tried to regain his bearings, the Dual blade took the chance and leapt high into the air. Using the gravity from falling forward, he delivered a spinning kick to the side of the mage's head, sending the mage flying sideways and straight into a wall. The wall collapsed from the impact, sending dust flying everywhere.

Crawling out from under the rubble, the Battle Mage groaned. That attack did a lot of damage to his body even with «Blue Aura» buffing up his defence. This showed of the attack power his opponent possesses. Weakly reaching for his staff, the mage attempted to push himself up. As the dust cloud started to clear, he could make out a silhouette of his attacker slowly moving towards him. There were no footsteps; his opponent was part of the «Thief» branch after all.

As the Dual Blade got closer and closer, the Battle Mage tried to buy some time for him to recover his breath by asking the one question that has been plaguing him ever since the start of the battle.

"Why are you doing this? What do you stand to gain from all this?"

The Dual Blade gave the mage a hateful look.

"Why? You want to know why? You know the answer yourself so tell me."

All the mage could do was to smile; he did know why after all so there was no need to play innocent.

"It seems my time has come after all, hasn't it."

It was not a question.

"Red Eye Xa-Xa, for being a member of the PK guild «Laughing Coffin», and the killing of 27 innocent players… I herby arres…"

**_*CRASH*_**

The Dual Blade never got to finish his statement as a loud crash interrupted him. Something had broken through the wall to his right. Turning his head, the Dual Blade's eyes widened as bullets started flying towards him. Setting his blades into motion, he activated the skill «Fatal Blow», blocking the barrage of bullets with his blades.

Leaping through the hole in the wall was a mecha with someone piloting it. The newcomer did not let up on his «Gatling Gun», continuing to launch a barrage of bullets towards the Dual Blade. However, after seeing that his attack wasn't doing any damage, he decided to take a different approach. Locking on to his target, he moved his two joysticks in a seemly random manner and activated the skill «Punch Launcher», firing a rocket propelled fist towards his target.

Seeing the rocket fist coming towards him, the Dual Blade knew there was no way he could cancel out the projectile without leaving himself vulnerable. Formulating a plan, he dashed forward towards the fist, beginning the first of a two-step skill. Retaining his momentum, he performed a slide under the metal fist and continued his dash towards the Mechanic.

Seemingly performing a back flip, the Dual Blade brought both his legs forward, becoming horizontal in the air. Spinning at high speeds, he activated the skill «Tornado Spin», sending the drilling kick towards the robot.

However, this was for naught as the Mechanic only turned his robot's other fist into a drill and performed a jet assisted dash, the skill «ME-07 Drillhands» clashing with the «Tornado Spin». Soon recovering the rocket fist he fired, he turned it into another drill and engaged his opponent in close combat, drill clashing against blades.

Being engrossed in combating the Mechanic, the Dual Blade did not notice when Kuradeel «Teleport» right behind him delivering «Finishing Blow» onto his back, the purple glowing staff striking six consecutive times. Caught off guard from the sneak attack, the Dual Blade cried out in shock, which was quickly silenced when the Mechanic sent the drills into his stomach and sent him flying back into a wall, causing the wall to collapse onto him.

"You're late Johnny."

"Sorry, I got a bit held up."

Looking towards the fallen Dual Blade, the two members of «Laughing Coffin» grinned.

"It seems that you are outnumbered, Kirito-sama, now what are you going to do now?"

"Not even you could take on two level 130 opponents at once, even though you are at level 135."

Pushing himself up, the Dual Blade known as Kirito dusted himself off. Glancing at his two opponents, he decided to answer them.

"I don't have to take you down by myself; all I need to do is to hold out until my backup arrives."

Taking a stance, he placed both his weapons in front of him and prepared for battle.

The both of his opponents did the same.

"Oh, we will be sure to kill you long before they even reach here."

Before the battle could commence, a voice spoke.

"Two on one, that's not very fair isn't it? How about I step in and make this battle more equal?"

Stepping out from the shadows, the owner of the voice appeared. Wielding an intricately designed polearm, the newcomer is shown as a female. Pushing her snow white hair out of her eyes, she swung the heavy looking polearm easily with one hand, speaking of her «STR» stats, and placed it onto her shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late Kirito-kun, I would have gotten here earlier if Maha haven't decided to keep giving me wrong directions."

"_Look I said I'm sorry already, will you please stop it!_"

The polearm sprit known as Maha whined.

"That's ok Asuna, so long that you are here, we can now bring these guys in."

"Oh what is this, first Kirito-sama the «The White Flash» and now Asuna-sama the «Pride of All Warriors» coming to take down little old us? We should be honoured, right Johnny?"

"Your right, but that doesn't mean we are going to be taken just like that, it's time we take our leave."

Pulling out a «Hyper Teleport Rock», the Mechanic known as Johnny Black grinned.

"Goodbye Kirito-sama and Asuna-sama."

"Oh no you don't!"

Activating «Combat Step», Asuna dashed towards the two Red Players in a burst of speed, leaving behind an afterimage, with bright streaks of blue energy depicting the direction she moved in. Swinging Maha, the heavy polearm cut through the «Hyper Teleport Rock», destroying the rock, cutting off their escape. Following the next step in the 4-hit combo, she quickly teleported between two short distances back and forth once with a sweeping motion, the «Double Swing» knocking the two players apart from each other, separating them. Turning towards the Battle mage, she performed the third-hit, jumping up in the air with the a speed barely traceable to the trained eye and slamming down the heavy polearm with such force that could be felt through the entire room, the «Triple Swing» striking against the metal pole of the staff of the Battle Mage as he managed to raise his weapon in a futile attempt to defend himself. A shockwave burst out between the two opponents, the effects of Asuna's third hit could be seen as cracks appeared in the floor beneath Kuradeel's feet.

However, Asuna was not finished. Raising Maha up in the air, she activated the final step of the combo, «Final Blow», Conjuring up a frightening clear image of a huge, enraged luminescent polar bear slamming both of its paws down onto the Battle Mage and completely breaking through whatever defence he had, blowing him away.

While this was happening, Kirito took the chance then Asuna separated the two PKers and used «Flash Jump», closing the distance between himself and Johnny, his dual-daggers lashing out towards the pilot. Attempting to stop the attack, the mechanic merged his mech's hands together and raised them high up in the air, utilizing the powerful one-hit skill «Atomic Hammer» , the now hammer propelled by rocket power slamming down with tremendous force, the shockwave throwing Kirito off course and hitting the hammer instead.

Deciding his only means of escape was through the roof, Johnny activated his «Rocket Booster», and launched himself up into the air, breaking through the ceiling, thinking that Kirito would not be able to follow him. However, he had underestimated Kirito's increased «Jump» and «Speed» stats from the «Self Haste» buff, as the Dual Blade easily chased after him by leaping through the hole in the celling, once more engaging each other in close combat, this time in mid-air.

Back with Asuna, her fight was getting really one-sided, seeing all Xa-Xa could do was to keep blocking her attacks and trying to tire her out before counter-attacking, which would have worked for most other players but not for her. Her «Legendary» character had a passive skill called «Combo Ability», which increases in count after every consecutive hit, strengthening all of her stats the longer the battle goes on. All Kuradeel was doing was allowing Asuna to get stronger and more powerful as time went by. Deciding to end the battle, she swung Maha in an upwards motion, activating «Final Toss» right after finishing «Triple Swing», completing the four-hit combo and lifted Xa-Xa high up into the air and straight through the roof.

**_*OOF* *AHHHH* *CRASH* _**

Only for him to fall straight back down through the same hole, only bringing along his buddy for the ride. Asuna sweat dropped.

"I didn't think I would be that lucky…"

_"She shoots, she scores!"_

"Shut up Maha."

Landing back onto the ground, Kirito looked at the two unconscious players lying in a heap on the ground, with the rather heavy mech on top of the mage.

"Well that was rather anti climatic."

_"That's what she said!"_

"Silence Maha, or I will make you listen to Nyancat again."

_"NO! NOT THE NYAN! MAKE IT STOP!"_

The polearm sprit went mad at the thought of being left with the «Poptart Cat» mob. Sighing at Maha antics, Asuna pulled out a «Teleport Rock» and activated it.

"I guess it's time to bring them in. Want to do the honour Kirito-kun?"

"Nah, you were the one who took them down, go ahead, I already told «The Knights» to prepare for their arrival already."

The «The Knights», was a guild consisting of players who taken the path of the «Knights of Cygnus», and was the main «Police Force» of the «Maple World». Sacrificing «Potential» and «Versatility» in return for «Rate of Growth», they were once the largest «Clearing Group» until it became apparent that despite being much stronger than other players at the same level, they have a much lower «Level Cap», meaning they will be forever stuck at level 120.

Unless they were willing to undergo an extremely hard chain of quests and rebirth as a level 50 «Ultimate Explorers», retaining some of their original «Cygnus Skills», they could not hope to match up to the other «Classes», who had a higher «Level Cap» at level 200. Since most players were unwilling to go through the quest, which has a high death rate, they decided to retire from the «Frontlines» after the disastrous «Liberation of Mu Lung», where they lost nearly one hundred players after some idiot decided to rally up some players and invaded «Mu Lung» with a four hundred strong army without any planning, and focus their efforts on keeping peace in lower levelled places with their overwhelming numbers, which would deter even high levelled players like Asuna and himself.

"«Teleport:Ereve»"

As the one way «Teleport Rock» took the two members of «Laughing Coffin» to their new home, Asuna turned to Kirito.

"Shall we be off Kirito-Kun?"

"First to kill 200 «Blue Dragon Turtle» gets treated to dinner by the loser?"

Giving the best challenging look he could muster, Kirito gave a look which basically said "Think you could beat me?"

Asuna grinned.

"You're on!"

Activating their respective speed «Skills», both players left the abandoned shack and disappeared back into the maze like forests of «Leafre» and into the mobs that inhabited the forests, the sunset-red sky turning the scenery a beautiful orange.


	2. Victoria Island Liberation Plans

"Thank you all for coming to the «Victoria Island Airport Liberation Meeting» today, my name is Diabel, and my class is «Crusader».

"You're joking! You're a «Swordsman» just like the rest of the «Warriors»."

"They are not even available until the «3rd job» at level 70! Does that mean this meeting is a joke too?"

The blue haired warrior started laughing together with the other players.

"Ahaha! You caught me, what I meant that I'm going to become a «Crusader» for my next «Job Advancement»."

"By skipping the «Fighter» stage? How are you going to do that? Performing some sacred ritual involving dancing out naked in the open?"

Diabel gasped, before grinning.

"How did you know, it's supposed to be a secret! Looks like I'm going have to slience you all now."

As everyone started laughing together, Diabel took in a deep breath, before schooling his face into a mask of seriousness. The effects was instantaneous, the laughter died down quickly.

"Now that we gotten that out of our system, let's get down to business."

Clearing his throat, the swordsman started speaking.

"Today we gotten reports that someone has found the pass leading to «Victoria Island Airport», located right at the top of the «World Tree» standing in middle of the island. Meaning if we take over the airport, we will be able to launch «Expeditions» to the other continents!"

Hearing this, everyone started to cheer. However, what Diabel said next cut their celebration.

"However, we also gotten reports that at the entrance to the top of the «World Tree» is being guarded by «Francis the Puppeteer», one of the «Black Wings» commander. What's more, the «Airships» at the airport cannot be activated without the correct «Seal Stones» powering the ship."

Looking towards the now disheartened group, Diabel suddenly slammed his fists onto the table.

"But that doesn't mean we are going to back down! So what if a «Black Wings» commander is guarding the tree, we will just smash his pathetic Puppet Army and the other commanders. We have to show that this death game can be cleared to everyone waiting at «Maple Island». That is the obligation of us top players here! Isn't that right, everyone!"

Everyone started clapping at this exclamation, for they all knew that they had to clear the game for the sake for everyone left in the Death Game.

"Now for the assault, scouts have reported that the closer we get to the «World Tree», more numerous and higher levelled monsters will appear. Therefore I recommend that we first take the time to train and locate the «Seal Stone» first. As you all know there are various places on the island that contains an extremely high concentration of monsters, I have a feeling that the «Seal Stone» is being guarded by these monsters. Therefore in one weeks' time, we shall start invading these places, starting with the «Slime Swamp»!"

A deafening roar erupted from the players. They shall not be trapped by this Death Game.

"Now for the grouping, I would like one player from each respective class to represent their own class and pass on this mess…"

"Wait a minute, Diabel-san."

At that moment, a low voice flowed out.

Stepping forward, a man wearing white robes with pointed, cactus-styled brown hair growled out.

"Before that, there is one thing that must be cleared up; otherwise I cannot join you."

Diabel's eyes narrowed for an instant, but soon returned to full smiles and said while beckoning.

"Opinions are certainly very welcome. But, if you are going to speak, you should tell us your name and class."

"...Hum."

Cactus head gave a huge snort, then stepped forward. When he reached the fountain, he turned around to face us.

"I am «Kibaou» of the «Thunder Breaker» class and what I want to say is that in this group, about 5 or 10 people needs to apologize."

"Apologize? From who and to whom?"

"Ha, isn't it obvious. To the two thousand now dead players. Those guys had a monopoly on everything, and so two thousand people died in one month! Isn't that right?!"

At that moment, the low buzzing in the forty people audience was cut short; all went silent. What Kibaou insinuated, everyone finally understood.

"—Kibaou-san. Your «those guys» are... the original beta testers, right?"

Diabel with his arms crossed, showed the most stern look up till now as he asked for confirmation.

"Obviously, who else could there be, on the day this shitty game started, dashed from the «Maple Island» and disappeared. They left behind over 14000 people who didn't know left from right. They chose the best classes, monopolized good hunting grounds and profitable quests, got stronger without a care for those behind. ...There should be some in this group, hiding their beta status, some sly people thinking of joining the assault group."

Slamming his brass knuckles down onto the table, the Pirate continued his ranting.

"I want them to kneel down once, to the party members their lives depend on. That's what I want to say!"

No one said anything. Everyone was silently thinking over his words.

"Excuse me, may I say something?"

Stepping into the spotlight, a white garbed player wearing a white mask which hid his lower half of his face walked out. Walking forward confidently, the player gave a piercing stare to the knuckle user.

"My name is «Kirito». Kibaou-san, what you mean to say is that many new players died because original beta testers did not take care of them, and you wish for them to accept that responsibility and apologize, isn't that correct?"

The now intimidated Kibaou nodded hesitantly, before regaining his fire from earlier.

"If they had not left us behind, two thousand people would not have died! However, they were not just any two thousand people, most of them were top ranks or veterans from other MMO's! If those shitty testers had properly shared information, items and money, then there would have been 10 times the people here... no, by now we would have found the seal stone!"

"Well I think that is a load of bullshit."

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!? YOU MUST BE ONE OF THOSE BETA TESTERS ARE YOU?!"

Exploding into rage, the Thunder Breaker performed a «Dash» towards Kirito, activating the skill «Somersault Kick» towards him in an attempt to knock him down, only for the white clad player calmly step out of the way before performing a roundhouse kick to the cactus haired player and sending him to the ground.

"While some of the beta testers might had done what you said, that doesn't mean you can lump them all into one category."

Pulling out his «Inventory», Kirito selected a small book, the cover had round ears and three whiskers stylized with a «Rat Mark», with the title

"I don't know about you but I got these for free at the potion shops back at «Maple Island», telling us various tips, hunting spots and quests walkthroughs. Even though the game only just started, this information came rather quickly don't you think?"

Getting up and dusting himself off, Kibaou turned to glare at Kirito.

"So what? It's just part of the game, what you said doesn't make any sense!"

"Firstly, these guide books are «Player Published », meaning it wasn't part of the game in the first place. Therefore, the information within this guidebook must come from somewhere, only leading to one conclusion."

Turning towards the crowd, Kirito addressed the crowd as a whole.

"The only ones who could provide the info, cannot be anyone other than the original beta testers."

All the players went abuzz. Kibaou closed his mouth sharply, and the knight Diabel behind him nodded in an 'I see' way.

"Secondly, I am a Beta Tester myself."

Everyone went silent at this proclamation.

"However, any information I had during the beta is sorely out-dated, as I know for a fact that the «Victoria Island Airport» wasn't located at the top of the «World Tree» originally, but at «Ellinia». Also, there were originally only five «Classes», in the beta but now those classes has branched out into many different classes under different groups, for example the «Knights of Cygnus» and «The Resistance». Meaning any information on these classes is rather limited, other than what we know on how much they are related to the original «Explorers» branch. "

Moving towards the table, Kirito pointed to the map.

"Also, the old map data from the beta can no longer be relied on, seeing that much of the island has changed. In fact, even the levels and behaviour of the monsters has changed completely, who knows what else has changed. What you said about hogging quests is rather untrue, as anyone can do the quests anytime."

Pulling out two blades, a «Dagger» and a «Katara», the white garbed player showed them to everyone gathered.

"My class is a special branch of the «Thieves», the «Dual Blade» which can only be accessed by accepting a quest from a «NPC» named «Ryden» in «Kerning City», and only players with extremely high reaction time will be able to complete this quest. Not even I knew about this even though I was in the beta and so far, it seems I was the only one able complete it, for many has tried and failed."

Turning back towards Kibaou, who now seem less sure about his belief, Kirito continued.

"You see, there is information. And even still, many players died. Out of the reported deaths, nearly four hundred of them were known Beta Testers. Even their beta knowledge could not help them now, with the revamp of the entire game. But now is not the time to hunt down who is responsible for those casualties. Whether we become a casualty or not, and how that influences this meeting, this is what I think. "

Kirito nodded towards Diabel before returning back to the crowd.

"Kibaou-san, I can understand your point. I, too, ventured into unknown territories, and finally arrived here after many near deaths. But, as this Kirito-san said, isn't it now time to look forward? Even original beta testers... no, especially original testers, we need their fighting strength and knowledge for the upcoming assault, no matter how out-dated they are. If we removed them, and that resulted in the attack failing, what would be the point?"

The cactus head pirate silently sulked for a few moments, before spatting out.

"Fine…"

Clapping his hands to get the attention from everyone, Diabel called out.

"Now as I was saying earlier, I would like one player from each of their respective classes to come out and represent their own class, and pass on this message to prepare for the invasion. Be warned that if you do so, you might become responsible for your own group so make sure you are mentally prepared. I shall start things off."

Stepping forward, the blue hair swordsman raised his hand.

"I, «Diabel», shall represent the «Explorer Branch» of the «Warriors», and be the leader of the assault group."

Returning to the front, Kirito raised his hand.

"Since there is a distinct lack of «Thieves» currently, I, «Kirito», shall represent the «Explorer Branch» of the «Thieves» and the «Special Explorers Branch» the «Dual Blades».

Everyone was silent for a moment, before a tall man with brown skin and a bald head stepped out from the left side of the crowd.

"I, «Agil», shall represent the entire «Resistance Branch» as a «Mechanic», for none of the other Resistance seems willing to step up."

Nodding towards the man, Diabel continued to scan over the crowd.

"I, «Thinker», shall represent the «Knights of Cygnus» as…"


	3. The Failed Invasion

It was a disaster.

A complete catastrophe.

The expedition had failed.

Walking through the airport, one could see the disheartened looks on many of the players face.

It was understandable, seeing many of them expected the invasion to succeed.

Instead, many lives were taken in this failed invasion of «Orbis».

Including the leader of the invasion force, Diabel.

Setting off with a one thousand strong army, the players had high hopes that they will be one step closer to clearing the Death Game.

Only to return a month later with less than six hundred players surviving.

Many of the players who had survived the failed expedition had decided to retire from the frontlines and instead to _try_ live inside the game itself.

Nobody blamed them. They themselves wanted to do the same. But they couldn't.

For they are willing to risk everything just to clear this Death Game.

* * *

"Many lives were lost in the failed expedition."

Sitting at the end of the table is the one of the five «Legendary» class found so far, for now temporary leader of the «Explorers Branch» of the «Warriors», Asuna.

Propped up next to her was Maha, who could not find it in himself to make fun of the current suitation.

"Indeed, it seems we had underestimated the «Levels» and «Skills» used by the «Pixies» guarding the town."

Speaking was the current leader of both the «Explorers Branch» of the «Thieves» and the «Special Explorers Branch», the «Dual Blades», Kirito.

"We won't be sending out another «Expedition» for another long time, judging from the look of things now."

Everyone turned to Thinker, the current leader of the «Knights of Cygnus». Raising an eyebrow, Asuna motioned her hand towards him.

"Oh why, please tell me Thinker-san."

Standing up, the Dawn Warrior started speaking.

"Firstly, our morale is at an all-time low right now, with the failed invasion, loss of lives and the fall of Diabel. Secondly, with many of our members leaving the frontline, no doubt word of our failure has reached other players, making it difficult to recruit more players into our «Maple Liberation Army» unless we do something."

Taking a deep breath, Thinker continued.

"Also, I think one of the main reasons to the failure of the invasion is the lack of coordination within the troops. Everyone just charged out and attacked whatever monsters they saw without any planning. Until we do something about this, there is no way we are going to launch another invasion force anytime soon. "

Finishing what he had to say, Thinker sat back down. Nodding, Asuna addressed the gathered leaders.

"Now that we have heard the reasons, it's time we address these problems, is there any suggestions?"

As everyone started discussing with each other, Maha spoke to Asuna.

_"I didn't think you would be up for the position of leader, seeing you always liked to train solo or with Kirito most of the time." _

"It is necessary Maha, other than Diabel, I am probably the only other role model for the «Warriors» to follow, seeing that I am supposed to be one of the five «Legendary» heroes of Maple."

"Break up the Alliance."

The sudden statement that came from the current leader of the «Special Explorers Branch» of the «Pirates», the «Cannoneers», a female player wearing a loose fitting black trench coat left open in the front, known as «Kuro». Unlike the «Dual Blades», which only players with high reaction time could access, the «Cannoneers» only allow players with high mental strength to access. As it was much more common to have people with high mental strength than people with high reaction time, needless to say there were more «Cannoneers» than the «Dual Blades».

Hearing the statement, the many of the gathered leaders burst into anger.

"Breaking up the alliance, why would we want to do that!"

"Yea! We come too far to stop now, don't you want to be free of this game!"

"Traitor!"

"**ENOUGH!"**

The sudden shout that rang through the conference room silenced everyone gathered. The «Resistance» leader, Agil motioned towards Kuro.

"I'm sure there is a reason to why you want to break up the Alliance, Kuro-san. Could you be so kind to tell us the reason why?"

"Train."

Was the simple reply the girl gave.

"Any other reasons?"

"Mix classes."

"What?"

"Coordination and recruitment."

"Are you going to elaborate more on them?"

"No."

While everyone was trying figure out the cryptic answers the girl gave, Kirito suddenly snapped his fingers, understanding.

"What she means to say, is that we should fall back for the time being to train our members and to recruit more players to replenish our depleted forces. Also, we should have our classes mix and party with each other for training, so as to train them to work together more efficiently! Great idea Kuro!"

"Thank you."

Shaking her head at the Goth like girl extremely short answers, Asuna cleared her throat.

"Now that we have a plan of what we should do, does anyone have a idea we could use to boost morale and recruit more players?"

"I have an idea."

It was Kirito who spoke up this time. His eyes had the glimmer of excitement in them.

"We host a tournament."


	4. The Warrior Legend Begins

Ever since young, Asuna always liked the snow.

There was something about it that just drew her to it.

However, she never had the chance to play in the snow, for her mother always locked her inside to study.

_"A respectable young lady does not engage in such childish pastimes."_

Was all her mother ever said when she asked.

**_*Scrunch**Scrunch*_**

Trekking through the snow covered roads of the frozen island «Rein», the girl known as Asuna took in a deep breath of cold air before exhaling, marvelling at the white cloud that appeared.

After her meeting with the Dual Blade known as Kirito, Asuna decided that she would take the time to explore the world for a bit, before dedicating her efforts in helping to clear the game.

Wanting to fulfil her childhood dream, she decided to go to the frozen island of Rein, which is said to be a winter wonderland, or so the penguin at the dock said.

Oh sure, the ride had cost eight hundred Mesos, but she had enough money after Kirito was kind enough to offer some of his Mesos to her after she made a promise to keep fighting.

The ride was a little foggy, but that was ok, she never experienced being in a fog before.

During the ride, she had asked the penguin more about the frozen island.

Apparently, a great warrior was cursed there long ago, causing him to freeze to death. Over time, the curse has spread to the rest of the island, causing the entire island to freeze up.

The only inhabitants on the island was the many penguins living there, and a girl known as «Lillin», who was part of a clan living there until quite recently when they decided to pack up and leave the island for the warmer parts of Maple.

After arriving on the island, she bade the penguin farewell and made her way towards the town on the centre of the island.

There was a few monsters along the way, but they were rather weak and slow, being only at level 4 at the max, while she was at level 6, more than enough to handle them alone.

Since the island was so cold, the only plants that grew there was bamboo and fir pine. So it was not surprising to see the entire town built mostly from bamboo.

Upon meeting the cyan haired girl, Lilin had offered her a thick fur coat after seeing that she was shivering in the cold.

After making small chat with her, Asuna discovered that she has been living on the island on her own ever since she was six, after her elder brother and cousin left the island while she had stubbornly stayed behind waiting for something to happen.

When Asuna asked what she was waiting for, she suddenly changed the subject and invited Asuna to stay in her home for the night.

Asuna accepted the invitation, wondering if this was some sort of a quest but judging from the lack of question mark, before she decided it's just normal for Lilin to invite any players to her home for the night.

* * *

After spending the night in the warm home next to a fire, Asuna decided to explore the island the next day. Returning the coat back to Lilin, the cyan haired had refused and told her to keep it for herself. Not wanting to be rude, despite knowing that the girl was a «NPC», Asuna kept the coat and trekked further north into the island.

Before setting off, Lilin had warned Asuna to return before the sun sets, for blizzards occurs at night at the northern part of the island. After bidding Lilin farewell, Asuna started trekking into the north, having fixed her mind on enjoying her little holiday for the time being.

Taking in the beauty of the scenery before her, she trekked deeper into the north. Stepping into the snow, she started doing things she was never allowed to do back in the real world. Making snow angels, burying herself in the snow and making snowmen.

Having so much fun, she did not notice as time flew by, eventually evening came. As the sun began to set, Asuna sat at the top of a hill, erupted by the reddish-orange light shining through the frozen forest, making them glitter like jewels.

Snow started falling, the moment the sun disappeared over the horizon. Asuna suddenly remembered Lilin's warning about the blizzard and started making her way back. However, it was too dark to see anything.

As the wind started picking up, more snow started falling, causing the white snow to further obscure her vision. She now wished that she had listened to Lilin and returned earlier. At this rate, she is going to die in this blizzard.

Teeth chattering, she could see that her red «HP Bar» was dropping, slowly but surely. Judging from the rate it is dropping, it seems that she only has ten minutes before she dies. Collapsing onto the ground, she accepted her fate.

"Sorry Kirito-san, I couldn't keep our promise…"

_"Over here….hello you there…"_

Oh great, now she is hearing ghosts, she must be losing her mind.

_"OVER HERE YOU BITCH!"_

Did someone just called her a bitch?

Suddenly gaining strength, Asuna stood up and started stomping towards the source of the voice, her anger fuelling her throughout the way.

_"OVER HERE ARAN! HEY ARAN, WHERE ARE YOU!"_

As the voice got louder and louder, she could make out a faint golden glow through the snow, glowing brighter as she got closer.

_"IT'S YOUR OLD BUDDY CALLING! OH ARAN!"_

Stomping into a cave, she saw a huge polearm stuck into a block of ice. With incarnate designs all over the axe part of the weapon, a sharp edge that seem to be able to cleave through anything, it was a truly impressive weapon to look at.

What was more impressive was that the weapon was giving off a golden glow and the source of the voice seems to be coming from it.

However, Asuna cared for none of these things. All she cared was teaching the owner of the voice a lesson for calling her a bitch.

_"Hey, there you are! Wait who are you? I never seen you befor…AHHHH WHAT ARE YOU DOING! STAPH!"_

Picking up the surprisingly light polearm, she started slamming it onto the walls of the ice cave, the message «Immortal Object» popping up everywhere.

"THAT WAS FOR CALLING ME A BITCH! TAKE THIS AND THAT AND SOME OF THESE."

_"WAIT I'M SORRY PUT ME DOWN! AHHH! OW! OOF! STAPH!"_

Eventually, Asuna lost her anger and dropped the polearm onto the ground. Everything was silent for a moment, before the polearm decided to ask.

_"Hey, who are you? I have never seen you before."_

Looking towards the polearm, Asuna decided to answer it.

"My name is Asuna, what bout you?"

The polearm started glowing brighter, before a golden energy flowed out from it, taking a shape of a boy with a ponytail, the sprit looked into Asuna's eyes and answered.

_"I am Maha, the Spirit of the Polearm."_


	5. The Untouchable Monster

Chap 5

"So why did you call us down here, Kirito-kun? In fact, why are you even in Ant Tunnel in the first place?"

Looking back towards Asuna, who was swinging her «Dark Snowboard» around in boredom, Kirito answered.

"As you know, I recently made my advancement to «Blade Lord», so I decided to get a hang of my skills by grinding here, when I encountered a monster I can't even hit."

"A monster you can't even hit? But that's impossible! Kirito-nii is the fastest of all of Maple! Not even Yukki-san can claim to match your speed."

The exclamation came from Silica, renowned for her «Legendary» class, the «Dragon Master». Her companion, the last of his kind, the young Onyx Dragon named Pina, growled in agreement.

"I might be fast Silica-chan, but this monster is faster...way faster..."

Suddenly becoming depressed, the Dual Blade sank to his knees and started muttering.

"You dissapear for three days, and suddenly come back expecting us to help? You could had at least answered our Whispers and Private Messages during the three days."

Speaking was Sinon, one of the few «Unique» classes in the game. Unlike the «Legendary» classes, where one has to find a possesion belonging to the five Heroes of Maple to gain one of the five legend classes, like Asuna finding Maha or Silica finding Pina's egg, «Unique» classes like Sinon's «Jett» is completely decided through a lottery system, found in a select few game CDs of «MapleStory Online». In fact, only two other «Unique» classes has been found on the frontlines so far, the others not wanting to risk their lives or has already fallen to the death game, Klein's «Hayato» and Heathcliff's «Demon Slayer».

"I was a little preoccupied, I will make it up to you all later as soon we kill IT"

Becoming curious about IT, Asuna decided to ask.

"What is this mob anyway, something tells me its not a new variant of the Drakes, they are all pretty slow anyway."

Ignoring her question, Kirito started picking up his pace and went faster.

"Well, lets hurry up, we can make it to my hideout before night if we rush."

* * *

_Five hours later, at Kirito's hideout..._

"...you been drinking Shroom Soup again, haven't you Kirito-kun."

Asuna was not impressed, and judging from the expressions the other two females, she could conclude they were just as impressed as her.

"No, I have not. Why does everyone keep harping on that anyway?!"

Opening her mouth, Sinon started to speak.

"Well, the last time when..."

Putting his hand over her mouth , Kirito silenced her.

"Wait, don't answer that."

Sighing, Asuna shook her head.

"It's just a Green Snail Kirito-kun, okay a little unusual to see one here, but still a snail."

At this statement, the Dual Blade suddenly went berserk.

"IT'S NOT JUST ANY SNAIL! THIS SNAIL IS PURE EVIL I TELL YOU! I'VE BEEN CAMPING HERE FOR THREE DAYS TRYING TO EVEN HIT IT!"

Looking at the eye-grinning snail, Kirito pointed at it and hollered.

"STOP MOCKING ME, YOU FUCKING SNAIL, I WILL GET YOU SOMEDAY!"

While the Dual Blade continued his tirade against the snail, Sinon, who had enough on his antics decided to shut him up by taking her «Soul Shooter» and whacking him on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"You mean to tell me you been here all this while just to kill a snail?"

"NOT JUST A SNA..."

***CLICK***

Looking towards the now loaded gun, Kirito, not wanting his health to be lowered by a bullet to the head, wisely kept his mouth shut, and raising his hands into the air in surrender.

Shaking her head at their antics, Asuna turned to Silica and Pina.

"Silica-chan, why don't you and Pina go put Kirito-kun's mind at ease, and go kill the snail while me and Sinon lecture him on never going near Shroom Soup again."

"Alright! Lets go Pina!"

* * *

_Ten minutes later…_

A dejected looking Silica and Pina returned to the hideout, where a tied up Kirito could be found tied to a rock. Asuna, who was the first to notice their arrival, asked.

"What's wrong, why do you look so sad"

Looking up at Asuna, the Dragon Master answered with teary eyes.

"We couldn't hit it, we threw all we had but the snail just avoided it."

Upon finishing her statement, the younger girl let out a sniff as tears started filling her eyes. Seeing this, both Asuna and Sinon hugged the now crying girl, comforting her.

"There there, there's no need to cry, you must just be having a bad day."

"It could happen to anyone, why don't you sit down while I go deal with the snail."

Getting up, the female warrior went over to her snowboard, giving the deceptive looking polearm a sharp kick.

"Wake up Maha, we got work to do."

"Snzzzorrrts"

"Nyan~!"

"ALRIGHT IM UP! STOP THE NYANING!"

Picking up the now grumbling spirit possessed snowboard, the white haired girl gave a few experimental swings, before clipping the weapon onto her back.

"Sinon, watch over the both of them, I will be back in a jiffy."

* * *

_Three hours later..._

"WHAT SORT OF SORCERY IS THIS?"

Swinging her snowboard in a horizontal arc, a golden burst of energy flew towards the Green Snail, only to miss as the snail rolled to the side. Seeing her «Combo Smash» miss the snail, Asuna burst forward quickly, using «Combat Step» to close the distance before bringing down her weapon in an attempt to take out the snail, only for the snail to retreat into its shell and launch itself into the warrior girl's face, knocking her down.

_"GET UP ASUNA! IT'S COMING AGAIN!"_

Heeding Maha's forewarning, Asuna rolled to the side, barely dodging the green cannonball that was the snail. Getting to her feet, the white haired girl utilized a four step combo attack, the now glowing snowboard striking three times at the snail to no avail, before activating the final step. Spinning quickly on the spot, a golden energy enveloped Asuna, which quickly became a golden tornado. Charging forward, the «Final Charge» attempted to smash into the snail, only for the snail to leap above the tornado, avoiding the attack altogether.

"That's it, I am out…"

Collapsing down on to the floor, Asuna grumbled as she took out a «Mana Elixir», gulping it down and refilling her MP bar. All the while with the snail standing close by, eye-smiling at her.

"Are you kidding me? Three hours in and not even you can hit the snail?"

Walking over to the resting polearm user, Sinon could only stare in disbelief. At first content with letting Asuna doing the dirty work, she had remained back at camp with her other two party members. However, three hours in with Asuna not returning to the hideout, she got worried and decided to go out and find the female warrior.

The three hours of listening to Kirito's rant getting on her nerves has nothing to do with it.

"I'm starting to wonder if Kirito's right on this snail being untouchable myself. Neither him nor Silica could hit it and they are among some of the fastest Attackers around Maple. If they cant even hit it, how can I hit it?"

Looking at the now complementing Asuna, Sinon shook her head, aiming her gun at the snail, quickly firing three shots consecutively the glowing bullets flying towards the snail at unimaginable speeds.

They missed.

"I see what you mean; can Snails even use Skills in the first place?"

Taking out her «Monster Handbook», Asuna quickly scanned through the pages, before shaking her head.

"It's stated in the Handbook that the only snail able to use Skills is «Mano», and this snail is definitely not him."

"Who's Mano?"

"The oldest «Snail» in existence, the Boss of the Snails in fact. However, it is only lv 10 and only spawns somewhere on the outskirts of «Lift Harbour» and the only Skills it uses is the debuff «Slow»."

"Well this snail is definitely not using any skills…"

Sliently thinking over the current situation, the space pirate snapped her fingers.

"I know! Let get Kirito to fight it again so we can see how fast this snail can go with our eyes before we Switch in and strike."

* * *

_5 minutes later…_

"HOLD STILL SO I CAN GUT YOU AND SERVE YOU UP!"

Leaping high up into the air, Kirito activated the Skill «Flying Assaulter», spinning in a flurry of blades and diving towards the snail. The snail response was to leap towards the weakspot of the Skill, straight into the head of the Dual Blade and cancelling out the skill, causing Kirito to slam headfirst into the rocky ground.

"DIE! DIE!"

Getting up with seemingly no damage done to him whatsoever, the Dual Blade launched himself using «Flash Jump» towards the snail, his Dagger and Katara glowing a bright white. Slashing at the snail three times in succession, the slashes leaving behind a glowing white trail in its wake. The snail simply moved back slightly, allowing the «Triple Stab» pass harmlessly in front of it before it once again launched itself like a cannonball straight into Kirito's face knocking him backwards.

"I WILL GET YOU FOR THAT!"

Like a crazed berserker, the Dual Blade ignored the damage to himself and once again launched himself towards the snail, continuing their battle again.

Off to the side-lines, the three females could only stare dumbfounded at the «Hyper Speed Battle» currently taking place in front of them. To them, all they saw was flashes of green and white striking each other at speeds they could never hope to match.

Silica was the first to speak.

"Too fast, it didn't even move that fast when we were fighting it."

"Yep."

Asuna agreed. None of them could move that fast. Asuna herself was a «Power» type attacker, focusing more on damage dealing while both Silica and Sinon were «Sweeper» type attackers, focusing more on crowd control. If, Kirito, whose class make him both «Speed» and «Sweeper» types, making him one of the fastest players of Maple could not hit the snail, how could they?

This leaves them with only one choice.

Setting her «Chat Mode» to «Whisper», Sinon typed in a name, before Whispering to the named player.

_"Argo, call in Heathcliff, we got a problem…"_


	6. Seige of El Nath Town

"Let the «Von Leon Invasion Meeting» begin."

Speaking was Heathcliff, also known as «The Dark Warrior». The moment he spoke, almost all activity in the «Guild Hall» ceased. Standing up and clearing his throat, he introduced himself.

"I am Heathcliff, Guild Master of the guild, «The Blood's Creed», with my second in command, Kuradeel.

Standing up next was Kirito, the «White Flash». Sweeping his hair back, he introduced himself.

"I am Kirito, Guild Master of the guild, «Silent Crusade», with my second in command, Kuro."

There was a pause, before the next person stood up. Feeling nervous being in the presence of such legends, he took a moment to compose himself before he spoke .

"My name is Thinker, Guild Master of «The Knights», and this is my second in command, Yulier."

After him was Asuna, the «Pride of all Warriors». Confidently standing up, she spoke.

"Asuna of the guild, «League of Legends», with my second in command, Yuuki."

After having introduced themselves, the gathered leaders gave a bow to each other before sitting back down. Starting off the meeting, Kirito spoke.

"The Castle of Von Leon is a heavily fortified fortress, taking it will be extremely difficult. What we need to do is to get our troops to strike hard and fast at the entrance of castle itself, and while the enemy forces is occupied with defending the entrance, we send a small elite squad of players to challenge the Von Leon himself. What does everyone think of this idea?"

Shaking her head, Asuna spoke.

"I don't think that will be a good idea, Kirito-kun, Von Leon is a brilliant strategist, he won't be that stupid to fall for your bluff. And anyway, the squad you are talking about would have to be extremely fast and agile to avoid the guards within the castle, meaning there will be no Tanks to back you up. Also, we don't know anything about Von Leon himself, besides knowing he is a brilliant sword and shield user."

"I do have to agree with Asuna-kun, speed isn't going to take him down. He could probably one hit off the entire squad In a single attack. Not to mention the various Tower Guards at each castle outpost."

Looking at the Demon Slayer, Kirito told him.

"The purpose of this attack is to gain more information on the inner workings of the castle, no one is idiotic enough to fight him with such a small squad, except maybe for Kibaou…"

Everyone shook their head at the mention of Kibaou. They all knew about the disastrous liberation of «Mu Lung» led by the Thunder Breaker, who wanted to prove that the KoCs were better than the other classes and rallied up nearly four hundred Knights while Thinker was away for the «Liberation Meeting».

The attack went well at first, but everything changed when the Boss of Mu Lung attacked. The Goblin King, summoned a never-ending army of «Sage Cats», which slowly whittled away the strength and morale of the invading players, and struck out when the players showed signs of giving up. Kibaou, seeing that defeat was imminent, abandoned the force to save his own skin and without a leader, the invading force collapsed.

With a death count of nearly one hundred players, the count would have been higher if it wasn't for the timely arrival of the «Silent Crusade» guild masters, who came at the behalf of Thinker when he heard about Kibaou's unauthorised attack. With Kirito utilising his speed to confuse and distract the monsters and Kuro's powerful cannon blasts covering their retreat, they were able to prevent any more casulaties.

After the disaster, Kibaou was arrested and with the entire «Alliance» as witnesses, sentenced to isolation in jail, away from the other jailed players in case he rallies them in an attempt to break out.

"Still, it's going to be very dangerous, who do you think we should send? And do note that mobility is the key here."

"I think you and Heathcliff should go, Kirito-kun. Heathcliff is our most mobile Tanker and you are our most mobile Attacker, he will be able to back you up."

"I will be honoured to go with you Kirito."

"Hmmm…I guess you right, we shall take two days to prepare and gather recruits for our squad. Meanwhile, I think Asuna should remain behind in the camp with the Knights to defend it."

"Ehhhh? But why? I can fight too you know."

"Where is the Castle Asuna?"

"El Nath?"

"And what type of monsters lives there?"

"Ice type…oh."

_"AHAHAHAHA, you are rather slow Asuna!"_

"Shut up Maha."

_"Make me!"_

"Why you…"

Shaking at the female's warrior quarrel with her weapon, Kirito continued.

"Alright, with the exception of the Blaze Wizards, the rest of the Knights shall remain behind with Asuna and Thinker to defend the camp. Next…"

***SLAM***

"REPORT! VON LEON HAS LEFT HIS CASTLE AND MARCHING TOWARDS EL NATH WITH HIS ARMY!"

**"WHAT?!"**

* * *

_At El Nath Town…_

"How is the situation here Agil?"

Turning his head towards the Dual Blade, the dark skinned Mechanic shook his head.

"No good, there's no way to escape now, he has besieged the entire town, and we don't have enough «Teleport Rocks» to get out. We're barely holding out as it is now. "

"The rest of the «Alliance» troops are still at Orbis's Guild Hall, they won't be here for another week or so, it will take time to prepare and move all of them…hmm…"

Rubbing his chin in thought, Kirito started formulating a plan, only to shake his head a few moments later.

"Well, I got nothing, only to hold out until they arrive, how is our supply of food?"

"Supply is not a problem, it's the Mesos that is the problem, most of the players stationed here don't have enough money to buy food from the NPCs and food is rather expensive here. Not to mention the high rent for the Inns here."

"Now that you mentioned it, I'm out of money too, and we can't go out to hunt with the «Seige» now."

"Kirito-san, we got a letter from Von Leon."

Turning towards the Ranger that just arrived, the Dual Blade held out his hand to accept the letter.

"Thanks. Now what does he wants now."

Ripping open the letter, Kirito quickly looked through the letter, various expressions appearing on his face before eventually settling on dread.

"Oh hell no..."

Agil, becoming curious, decided to ask.

"What is it? What's in the letter?"

"He wants a one on one fight, with me alone."

"Trap."

Both Kirito and Agil jumped.

"Don't do that Kuro…ok how do you stay warm in that?"

Looking at the Cannon Master's current state of dress, Kirito was perplexed. Her clothes consists of a string bikini top under a black jacket with white stripes running along the length of each of her sleeves and a white star design on the front and back, complete with a pair of tight-fitting shorts, gloves, and black knee-high boots. It makes one wonder how does she stay warm wearing so little.

"Enchantment."

Ah, so that was why.

"Okay sooo…you were saying something about a trap? And where is Jack anyway?"

"Scout."

"I see, so what do you think we should do about this challenge letter?"

"Stall?"

"No way we can do that, he is giving us until sundown before he attacks."

"Lure?"

"That could work, we're gonna need someone fast, nimble and extremely good at running away…someone like…I'm still going aren't I?"

"Yep."

"No doubt about it, but Kirito, it's dangerous to go alone, take someone along with you."

Shaking his head, Kirito waved his hand at Agil.

"No one here is fast enough, what we require here is people specialized in Hit-and-Run tactics. Until Jack comes back, nearly half of Kuro's Skills are unusable. It's nearly two hours to sundown. And where the heck are the other Leaders anyway? I thought they would at least send some back up and Mesos through «Teleport Rocks».

* * *

_At Orbis Town…_

"We are out of «Teleport Rocks»."

**"WHAT?" **

* * *

_Back at El NathTown…_

"And even if Jack comes back now, we still need a Leader, or at least a Sub-Leader, to lead the troops stationed here, so Kuro has to stay behind to defend the town."

Turning around, the Dual Blade started walking towards the Town Gate, spinning both of his weapons in his hands.

"Wish me luck people."

"You don't need luck, you're a Pure LUK remember?"

"That was just a figure of speech!"


	7. Breakdown of Map of Maplestory Online

Everyone begins on «Maple Island – Mushroom Town», where the NPCs of the town will teach them the basics of everything. Moving on from the town is «Amherst», with monsters along the way to the town. To leave the island, go to «Southperry» and talk to «Shanks», who will bring you on his ship to «Lift Harbour» on «Victoria Island». It takes about two to three days to clear the island.

At Lift Harbour, the NPCs will tell you about the basics of each Class, and introduce you to various organisations in other Towns with the Classes.

If one wants to become an «Explorer», simply travel to the respective town to become one. «Special Explorers» has special requirements.

To become a «Knight of Cygnus», one takes a ship from Lift Harbour to the island of «Ereve».

«Resistance» requires traveling to the town of «Edelstein».

From Lift Harbour, one can travel throughout Victoria Island and go exploring. Various «Monster Dungeons» exists throughout the island, with «Boss Monsters» guarding «One-of-a-kind» Equips in each dungeon. Bosses monsters will respawn over time, but the Equips they are guarding will never be available again. Getting the «Last Attack» on the boss gives a rare chance to yield a weaker version of the Equips, but still above average.

To clear Victoria Island, one must defeat «Francis the Puppeteer», guarding the «World Tree», «Francis the Puppeteer», gaining access to the «Victoria Tree Platform Airport» and its «Airships». However, the ships will not activate unless someone finds the respective «Seal Stone» to activate each Airship, found in one of the «Monster Dungeons» guarded by the Bosses.

From the Airport, expeditions to the other continents can be launched. However, from this point onwards, every new town and airports will be guarded by Bosses and Commanders. It is now a full blown war between the Black Mage Commanders and the players, with players Liberating each town and airports to reach the «Black Mage» and the Commanders trying to stop them and taking down as many players as possible.

«Orbis» is the central hub to travel to the other continents, and from here onwards, most of the monsters encountered will have attack «Skills». «Orbis Tower» takes about two to three days to climb down and about five to go back up, unless one knows the various «Shortcut Portals».

«El Nath» is extremely cold and without the proper equipment or eating the right food, HP can drop rather rapidly. It is guarded by the «Snowman». Monsters here are weak to «Fire» and strong against «Ice».

«Ludibrium» is a town with toy themed monsters, and deeper into the dungeons is the much more powerful time based monsters. «Tick-Tock» guards the town with the toy monsters while «Alishar» guards the outer dungeon with the clock based monsters. The inner dungeon is filled with Undeads with power over time, led by «Papulatus». Inner dungeons monsters are weak against «Heal» and «Holy».

«Eos Tower» leads to «Omega Sector», a town being invaded by aliens; much of the technology is developed there, with many medicines sold there. «Zeno» is the boss there. It takes a week to get down, and nearly two to get back up unless one has «Eos Teleport Scrolls» to use the «Eos Teleport Rocks».

«Helios Tower» leads to two places, the «Time Control Room» which stops time in Ludibrium to preserve the childhood of the town, and the «Ludibrium Library».

The «Time Control Room has a portal leading to the past of Maplestory, «Elin Forest», with the Fairy Queen «Ephenia» taking over the past.

The «Ludibrium Library» leads to «Korean Folk Town», a town inspired by Korean stories, the quests available reflecting that. The three «Goblin Kings» rule one part of the «Black Mountain» with «Gumiho» taking over the rest.

The town has a well which leads to the underwater world, «Aqua Road». Players are advised to keep a watch on their HP lest they drown in the water. Monsters here are weak against «Poison» and «Lightning». «Seurf» the giant clam rampages through the town «Aquarium», with «Pinaus» as the boss of the «Aqua Dungeon». It also leads to the bottom of «Orbis Tower»

Back at «El Nath», climbing up the «El Nath Mts» leads to a dungeon known as the «Dead Mine». The roads consists of a extremely steep pass which means death if you fall off. Trekking through the land you will encounter «Yetis», «Werewolves», and even «Zombies». «Holy» is rather effective here. Also, there is a road leading to a castle…

«Lion King's Castle», a heavily defended fortress inhabited by one of the Commanders, «Von Leon». Within the castle, is a huge army of Monsters, with the extremely tough «Tower Guard Ani» at each of the castle towers. On occasion, Von Leon is known to send out his army to attack the surrounding lands, most notably the town itself.

Further down leads to an entrance to a mine, and leadinging deeper into that mine is a magmatic environment, containing lava, and very strong monsters made out of lava and fire. Here, «Ice» is the most effective against the monsters. Going deeper you will encounter a door, leading to «Zakum's Altar», where you can fight «Zakum» and find incredible riches and Equips.

«Nihal Desert», an Egyptian themed Continent with nearly endless deserts. The town of «Ariant» serves as the Airport, and the line between the rich and poor can be seen, judging from the NPCs. Monsters here are suited for survival in the desert, meaning they have an higher than average health pool when compared to other monsters of the same level. Through the desert is the alchemical town, «Magatia». The town is divided between two societies, the «Alcadno» and the «Zenumist». Monsters are by products of the alchemical works of these two societies, the Alcadno creating organic monsters and the Zenumist creating mechanical monsters. The monster of this town is created by an insane alchemist of the town, combining the both disciplines of each monsters to build «Frankenroid». Deep into the sewers, is the «Chimera»…

Near to the town, is «Nett's Pyramid». It is said that the great pharaoh «Nett» buried his riches along with him. Exploring the pyramid you might find a tiny portion of his treasure, or even something more. However, countless monsters guards the inside of the pyramid, along with many more traps.

Deeper into the desert, stands a «Obelisk», leading into underground into the lost civilisation of «Azwan». Here lays the «Skeleton Army» belonging to one of the Commanders, the female necromancer «Hilla». Magical totems reanimates any of her soldiers that falls, meaning she has a nearly undefeatable army that can only be stopped if one destroys the totems to stop the reanimation. Ancient Scrolls and Equips can be found here.

«Mu Lung Garden», a Continent based off ancient China. «Mu Lung», a town where the focus is on Body and Mind, and such, most of the monsters here knows unarmed combat and spells. The «Goblin King» controls the town with its black magic. «Tae Roon», once a student of the town aiming to become a Master, now wanders outside the town after being cursed by the King, randomly flying into fits of rage and attacking anyone.

«Herb Town» lies at the other end of the continent, focusing on the cultivation of herbs. However, the «Lord Pirate» often raids the town using the «Bellflowers» after he captured their leader, forcing them to obey him.

«Minar Forest», the Continent of the Dragons. The town of «Leafre» serves as the Hatchery for the friendly Dragons, helped by the «Hafbringers». However, deep into the land itself, some of the Dragons has been brainwashed by the three headed dragon, «Horntail», who is imprisoned in the «Cave of Life». The town itself will treat outsiders as an enemy, with the friendly dragons helping to defend the town until one manages to do a special quest.

High up in the skies, is the floating «Temple of Time», where the goodness of time, «Rhinne» used to reside in. At the entrance, there is a «Gate to Future», apparently leading to a future where the Black Mage has corrupted Empress Cygnus, serving as the Boss. However, this is just an illusion crafted by the Black Mage that hides the key required to gain entrance to the Temple itself. Also, it is said that a powerful monster from an alternate dimension, «Pink Bean» comes here to play on occasion.

The temple is the final zone for Maplestory Online, also serving as the palace for the Black Mage. Here, the final battle shall take place, between the Players and the Black Mage.

* * *

Hey all, hello2000 here, here's a basic breakdown of that the maps in Maplestory Online is like. And what do you guys think i should write about next? Im open to any suggestions.


	8. Ride of the Lift

Chap 8

"STOP THE LIFT!"

"DO SOMETHING KLEIN!"

"MAKE IT STOP!"

A sudden jerk to the right sent the players crashing into the walls, ending up in a heap.

"IM TRYING BUT NOTHING IS HAPPENING! THE BUTTONS ARE NOT RESPON…AHHHH!"

A swerve to the left ended the statement abruptly as the player known as Klein lost his balance and flew face first into the wall, knocking him out. This was followed by Kirito slamming his entire body against him, along with the other players.

"WHERE ARE THE EMERGENCY BREAK BUTTONS?"

Pushing the players piling on top of him out of the way, Kirito stabbed both of his weapons into the ground to secure himself, before crawling slowly towards the lift buttons, using his weapons as picks. However, this was all for naught as another swerve sent the pile of players flying towards him, knocking him away.

Kuro, who was the only one not flying around due to her heavy hand-cannon holding her down, managed to avoid the occasional flying players around while batting the ones almost hitting her away by swinging her weapon to reach the lift buttons. Seeing this, Kirito hopefully called out from underneath the pile of players.

"QUICK KURO STOP THE LIFT! PRESS THE BUTTON!"

Turning towards her leader, the Cannoneer could only put on a face of sympathy as she said two words that crushed not only his hopes, but all of the other players currently in the lift.

"No brakes."

* * *

_Meanwhile on Floor 99 of «Helios Tower»_

"Did you say something Yukki?"

"What? I didn't say anything, what's wrong Asuna?"

Shaking her head to clear her head, the white haired girl replied.

"Oh nothing, I thought I heard something."

"You heard it too? I thought it was just me losing my mind to boredom."

_"And what's wrong with losing your mind? You might even find a sentient weapon just like me! You can then have lots of fun together! Just like me and Asuna!"_

"Do not remind me…I am still regretting that day."

Ignoring the Spirit, Asuna decided to ask the younger girl.

"What did you hear Yukki? I'm afraid my «Listening Skill» is not high enough to hear the entire thing."

"Hmm…I think it went like…help, we are going to die…something something…hmm…...oh yea! For the love of god, someone please staph the lift?"

"Staph?"

"Oh, sorry I meant stop. Wait, stop the lift? Do you think it's coming from the lift?"

Turning towards the closed lift, the young Blade Acolyte stared at it in worry. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Asuna reassured her.

"Nah, it should be safe right? It's just one way straight down."

"…you know…it's been nearly ten minutes, and they still have not contacted us."

_"They could be dead…And it would be AHHHH!"_

Tossing her «Maple Scorpio» into a group «Retz», both of the female players ignored the screams coming from the Spirit as the toy-like hamsters started to use his container as a chew toy. Continuing like nothing had happened, Asuna decided to put Yukki's mind at rest.

"Don't worry, the lift inside is a «Safe Area», their HP cannot decrease no matter what happens. Besides, they wouldn't die even if something kills them."

"But people die when they are killed, right?"

"What I meant was they are too stubborn to be taken out just like that. Alright enough of these depressing thoughts, why don't we go back to town and get something to eat."

"Alright! I really want to try their cakes aga…"

_***SCREEEE**BOOM***_

A sudden explosion coming from the lift suddenly interrupted her. Turning towards the lift, both players could now see thick black smoke coming from the lift, having overworked the gears too much.

"Ne Asuna, I think the lift just broke."

"I know, what's going to happen now?"

_***THOOM***_

A sudden earthquake suddenly shook throughout the tower, answering their question.

"I think they reached the bottom."

* * *

_Ground Zero, « Helios Tower» Floor 2._

Dragging his entire body out of the crash site, Kirito groaned as he shook his head trying to clear his head. A quick look at the other players told him that they were not doing so well either.

Except for Kuro, who leapt up in time to avoid the impact into the ground. And landing on top of the pile of players, softening her fall.

Turning an angry glare at the red clad samurai, the Blade Specialist spoke in the most deadpan voice he could muster.

"Next time Klein, when the lift sign says [No more than ten people at any time], you do not go "There is room for one more!" and JUMP IN ALONG!"

* * *

Hey guys, sorry for such a short chapter, my exams are coming up and I am studying for it now.

On another note, WHAT do you want to see next?


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